Introduction to Finite element methods:

Finite element method is a numerical procedure for solving physical problems in the fields of mechanics, fluid dynamics, thermodynamics etc. Finite element method is particularly useful for solving problems that do not have satisfactory analytical procedures. The analytical procedures maybe difficult because of complicated geometry of the body that cannot be modeled numerically. The finite element method solves the problems by discretizing the body in question into small elements of known geometry, whose solution can be found easily. The method generates a set of algebraic equations that can be solved numerically. With the advent of fast processing computers, these procedures have become even simpler, faster and effective.

How important is FEM for the industry?

Competition and market pressures force the mechanical engineering companies to release products with the minimum product lead-time (Lead-time is the time between the conceptualization and marketing of the product). Mechanical engineering design, however perfect it may seem on paper has to be validated and verified. This traditionally has been done by developing prototypes and testing them and redesigning them based on these test results. Finite element method has minimized the use of prototypes as most of the prototype testing has been done numerically on the computer. FEM can also predict the hotspots for the testing personnel to be aware of thus maximizing the effectiveness of prototype testing Another critical use of the FEM techniques is used to aid designing. For example, any car is first visualized by the marketing and the art people. Before hitting the drawing boards, a coarse FEM based on the overall artistic picture and the loads are applied. This gives an idea of the critical stress areas and the FE analyst can suggest the design people the section modulus and other similar properties. Thus the Finite Element technique is used by practicing engineers for reducing the product lead time and be competitive in the industry.

A Word of Caution
Users of the finite element programs like ANSYS may be so impressed by the power of the method and the seemingly beautiful results that its limitations are ignored. One can now make mistakes with more confidence than before. So for effective use of the FEA techniques, it is imperative that the user knows the finite element theory and the numerical procedures used for computation. A good analyst always does his homework by preparing an analytical solution to verify the validity of his FEA results. The effectiveness of using the Finite Element programs to the full extent is realized by having a sound engineering judgement and experience. Any doubt arising during the FEA should never be overlooked.

An Example to illustrate the concept of Finite Element Analysis:

An axial force of is applied to the shaft as shown in the figure. The area of the shaft P

P
3A A

varies from 3A @ x=0 to A @ x= L. We have to find the axial deflection of the shaft.

Analytical Solution: The analytical solution of the above problem can be calculated from standard SoM textbooks and found to be ------- 1

Finite Element Solution: The beam shown in the figure can be solved by dividing the tapered area of the shaft into n shafts of uniform area of cross section. We can do away the solution of the ordinary differential equation as we did for the analytical solution case and replace them with n linear algebraic equations thus making the calculations easier.

Case (i) 2 Finite Elements:

2.5A, E

1.5A, E

L/2

L/2

The deflection can be calculated as the sum of the individual deflections of the 2 elements with area 2.5A and 1.5A of lengths L/2 each. The deflection is given as

-------- 2 Comparing eq 1 and 2, we can compare the theoretical solution and the Finite Element solution. We can compute the % error of the FEM results also

% Case (ii) Three Finite Elements: A similar analysis can be carried out by dividing the shaft into 3 elements of areas, 2.667A, 2A and 1.3333A. Each element is of equal length of L/3. The percentage error in that case was found to be

Case (iii) Four Finite Elements: The same procedure repeated for 4 finite elements of equal length, gave a lesser error.

From the above examples, it is quite clear that the finite element method provides a clear alternative and a simpler method for analyzing problems involving complex geometry. Also we can note that the % error decreases as the # of elements increase. So we can get very close results if we chose a fine enough mesh and apply the proper boundary conditions and loading